¿Se baila con la cabeza cercenada en los códices Vaticano B, Borgia y Cospi?
Is There a Dance with Severed Deads in the Codices Vaticanus B, Borgia and Cospi?

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to analyze the first sheets of the codices Vaticanus B, Borgia, and Cospi where different characters hold the hair of other figures by hand, or hold severed heads. Thus, the work deals with the fragments of plates 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 of the Vaticanus B, the parts of plates 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Borgia, and the sections of the plates 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Codex Cospi. In the first part, a systematic study of the body movements of the figures and a detailed review of their past interpretations is carried out. When comparing these sheets with the relevant fragments of other codices, difficulties are observed in discerning the limits between different ritual acts related to severed heads. In other words, the Western concepts of sacrifice, decapitation, and dance with severed heads are interwoven in such a way that we cannot put pictographic, and/or conceptual borders between them. Therefore, the last part inquires into the use of our categories when interpreting codices or other historical sources.

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